Better known as a dumping ground for used electronic goods from developed countries, Africa is set to outstrip Europe in the volumes of e-waste it generates within five years, experts said Thursday.<\/p>\n
“One study suggests Africa will generate more e-waste than Europe by 2017,” Katharina Kummer Peiry, Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention on hazardous waste, told reporters.<\/p>\n
“At the current rate … by 2017 we’ll be faced with so much e-waste –even more than in the EU,” said Miranda Amachree of Nigeria’s National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency.<\/p>\n
The two major contributing factors are population growth and increased avalibility of mobile phones, computers and accessories, the experts said on the sidelines of the Pan-African Forum on E-Waste at the UN environment agency in Nairobi.<\/p>\n
“There is population growth … and there is the penetration rate –there are increasing numbers of people with access to these devices,” Kummer Peiry said.<\/p>\n
“You have to bear in mind that there are efforts undertaken at all levels to increase access — it’s part of development,” she said, describing the growth of both the population and the penetration rate as “exponential.”<\/p>\n
Africa, which has traditionally been confronted by thousands of tonnes of electronic waste shipped from Europe for disposal, often under dangerous conditions, is increasingly dealing with the e-waste generated locally.<\/p>\n
Kenya for example exonerated information and communication technology (ICT) equipment from import duties in 2008, in an attempt to boost access. Zambia followed suit last year.<\/p>\n
“The use of electric and electronic devices … is still low in Africa compared to other regions of the world but it is growing at a staggering pace,” said a report launched last month summarizing findings from the E-waste Africa Programme of the Basel Convention.<\/p>\n
The convention, which regulates the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal, was adopted in 1989 and took effect three years later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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